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kev

n. countable
C2 Proficiency kev Slang Vulgar

n. a very small unit of energy used by scientists to measure how fast tiny particles move. It is short for 'kilo-electronvolt'.

n. a unit of energy equal to one thousand electronvolts, commonly used in particle physics and radiology to express the energy of X-rays or the kinetic energy of electrons. Often written as keV with a lowercase 'k' and uppercase 'V'.


SIMPLE

The X-ray machine operates at 100 keV.

CONTEXTUAL

Researchers measured the energy of the emitted photons and found they peaked at approximately 50 keV during the experiment.

COMPLEX

In high-energy physics, the precision of the detector allows for the identification of specific isotopes by measuring gamma-ray emissions that fall within the range of several hundred keV.

Origin

Shortening.

Usage

Usually written as the abbreviation 'keV'; the full term 'kilo-electronvolt' is rarely used in speech.

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